Multilevel spiral building structure



Sept. 16, 1969 c, HAGEL Y MULTILEVEL SPIRAL BUILDING STRUCTURE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 16, 1966 FIG. 6.

INVENTOR CARL HEINRICH HAGEL W 9 4 W ATTORNEYS.

c. H. HAGEL MULTILEV EL SPIRAL BUILDING STRUCTURE Sept. 16, 1969 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 16, 1966 INVENTOR CARL HEINRICH HAGEL 5AITOZNEYi 2i United States Patent 3,466,817 MULTILEVEL SPIRAL BUILDINGSTRUCTURE Carl Heinrich Hagel, Eintrachtstrasse 22/24, Dortmund, GermanyFiled Nov. 16, 1966, Ser. No. 594,826 Int. Cl. E04h 1/04 US. Cl. 5230 15Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A spirally disposed multiflooredbuilding having a multiplicity of compartments disposed about saidspiral wherein said compartments are defined by a series of alternatinghorizontal members and wall members wherein the wall members aresubstantially L-shaped with a first portion defining a portion of achordal plane of said spiral and a second portion which is generallytransverse to the first portion.

This invention relates in general to the building construction art, andmore particularly to an elevated building structure having modularcompartments arranged in spirally ascending succession. The buildingstructure of the invention is designed for assembly from pluralities oftwo basic types of modular elements that are connected to one another inalternate repeating order. These basic modular elements are speciallydesigned wall members and horizontal partition members that areinterlockingly connected in alternate repeating sequence to define abuilding structure having a plurality of compartments, each bounded by apair of opposite Wall members and by a pair of opposite horizontalpartition members, and arranged in succession along an ascending helicalspiral path.

This invention provides a modular unit construction multistory spirallywound building made of two structural elements in succeeding alternatingarrangement. One of these members is substantially horizontal, and theother, which is the load-bearing section, is vertical and substantiallyL-shaped, with an arm of the L being generally parallel to orintersected with the axis of the spiral, and the other arm of the Lbeing generally concentric to the spiral. It will be appreciated thatthe characterizations of the directions of the arms of the L-shapedmember are approximate and define the configuration without beingabsolutely mathematically limiting thereon.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the wall andhorizontal partition members are dimensioned to define an assembledbuilding having a generally open interior well that extends verticallythroughout the height of the building and is centrally located therein.This well is generally cylindrical in form and is surrounded laterallyby an ascending spiral ramp constituted by laterally adjoininghorizontal partition members, and serves to accommodate the installationof an elevator which services the building compartments, all of whichcan be entered from the ramp. Since the entrances of all buildingcompartments are arranged around the well, an elevator which travels upand down within the well guided along a spiral track supported by thesurrounding spiral ramp formed by the horizontal partition members ispreferably used, although any suitable conventional elevator can beinstalled in the well.

This application is related to a prior co-pending application Ser. No.442,645, filed Mar. 25, 1965 by Carl Heinrich Hagel now Patent No.3,419,161, which application gives details of such special type ofelevator as will be useful in understanding the installation and usethereof in a building structure having a central well of the typedescribed herein.

Patented Sept. 16, 1969 The horizontal partition members are disposedfor extension, at least partly, in laterally adjoining relation andradially toward the axis of the spiral path on which the compartmentsare located. Each horizontal partition member has an arcuate edgeportion facing the spiral axis, which is ordinarily vertical, and theseedge portions are supported in consecutive end-wise adjoining relationto one another by wall members so as to define the ascending spiralramp. This spiral ramp is of the same pitch as that of the spiralcompartment location path, such pitch being equal to the uniform heightof the individual compartments as established by the dimensions of thewall members. The spiral elevator guide track which is disposed in thewell to guide an elevator moveable therein likewise has the same pitchas the spiral ramp formed by the adjoining horizontal partition members,and is connected thereto for support thereby.

To allow the horizontal partition members and wall members to be madewith respectively common dimensions regardless of where they areinstalled in the building, with the exception of certain wall memberswhich serve to support the first flight of compartments, the individualcompartments above the first flight are geometrically similar and allcompartments throughout the building are generally wedge-shaped in planform.

In elevation, each compartment is bounded by a pair of horizontalpartition members, the lower one of which serves as both the floor ofthe compartment and the ceiling or roof of an underlying compartment,with the upper horizontal partition member in the pair serving as theceiling of the same compartment and the floor of the overlyingcompartment, if any such overlying compartment is provided. Similarly,each compartment is bounded laterally by a pair of wall members whichare generally vertical, and serve to separate adjacent compartments.

Preferably, the compartments are located at equal angular intervalsalong the ascending spiral path and extend therealong over an angularspace that is an integral proportion of one complete spiral path flight.With such angular spacing, compartments located at similar angularstations in each successive spiral flight path will be aligned invertically superposed groups. This enables the wall members associatedwith each group of vertically superposed compartments to be connected toone another in edge-wise alignment to form load bearing columnar wallsthat extend vertically down to the base of the building.

By reason of its unique construction, the building structure of theinvention is adapted to a particularly simplified method of assembly notrequiring the use of a large crane hoist of the type normally used forerecting multistory buildings. However, conventional methods of assemblyand erection can also be used, if desired.

Starting at the bottom, the compartments of the first flight areerected, thereby providing around the well area an initial helical rampcapable of supporting a one turn section of the elevator guide track.The elevator can thus be placed upon the guide track for use in carryingup the wall and horizontal partition members that are to be used inerecting the second subsequent flights of compartments.

A crane hoist of limited size, but of sufficient swing capability fortransferring such wall and partition members from the elevator andplacing them in their intended erection positions, can be advantageouslymounted on the elevator to expedite the progress of construction.

After the upper horizontal partition members for the first flight ofcompartments are in place, the wall members for the second flightcompartments are erected thereupon, and all connections between theupper horizontal partition members of the first flight and the wallmembers of the first and second flights are made. With the Wall membersof the second flight in place, the upper horizontal partition membersfor the second flight are laid each between adjacent pairs of wallmembers for support thereupon, the lower horizontal partition membersfor the second flight and the upper horizontal partition members for thefirst flight being one and the same for each respective set ofsuperposed first and second flight compartments. The third andsubsequent flights of compart ments are erected in a similar manner.

As is well known in civil engineering, in a multistory building, thetotal loading upon the lowermost and each intermediate story increaseswith building height as each new story is added. To preserve a generallysimilar, and preferably uniform geometry among the several modular walland horizontal partition members used throughout the building of theinvention, all of such wall and partition members can be designed towithstand the stresses they will experience if assembled into alowermost flight of compartments in a building having a given maximumnumber of compartment flights. In this way, modular wall and partitionmembers can be prefabricated to uniform sets of dimensions for assemblyanywhere within a building having a number of compartment flights up tothe maximum. However, should it be undesirable to provide suchoverdesign in wall and partition members used for upper flights, thewall and partition members used throughout the building can still bedesigned for uniform interconnection dimensions, but with increasedreinforcement and/or load bearing cross-section areas for safe use inlower compartment flights. For example, the wall and partition membersused in the lower compartment flights can be thickened or otherwisereinforced at regions having no etfect upon their connection to oneanother.

The individual wall members, according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention, are of monolithic construction, and are generally L-shaped inplan form. A generally rectangular, flat slab constitutes the majorportion of the long side of each wall member, and a bent, or curved slabsection constitutes the short side of the wall member. In the assemblyof the building compartments, the flat slab portions of the wall membersare erected vertically in radial alignment with the axis of thecompartment location spiral, and the bent slab portions are thusoriented tangentially with the spiral path to define exterior wallsections of the building.

Each wall member is provided with thickened columnlike portions whichextend vertically along the inner edge of the flat slab, along the outeredge thereof whereat the flat and bent slab portions are joined, andalong the free end of the bent slab. These column portions are notchedto receive and constrain matching portions of the horizontal partitionmembers, and to position adjacent horizontal partition members in theproper elevation spacing to each other such that the partition membersof successive compartments join along the intended spiral path.

With the type of construction afforded by such wall and partitionmembers, a building having any number of spirally arranged compartmentsup to a maximum dictated by load limitations, can be simply andeconomically erected, either at one construction stage, or in severalconstruction stages wherein additional compartments are added asdesired. As distinguished from conventional rnultistory buildingconstruction, the building structure of the invention need not beerected with an integral number of compartment flights, and additionalcompartments can be added one at a time Without any interference withthose already existing.

The two basic types of modular Wall and horizontal partition membersthus mentioned define the primary outlines and enclosure of the buildingand compartments. However, additional panels and partitions can be addedas desired to provide selected variations and subdivisions withinindividual compartments.

These modular wall and partition members can be constructed with avariety of materials, such as steel, con- 4 crete, etc., but expedientlyare of prefabricated steel-reinforced concrete construction.

It is therefore, an object of the invention to provide a buildingstructure having a plurality of compartments arranged successively alongan ascending helical spiral path.

Another object of the invention is to provide a building structure asaforesaid which can be assembled from prefabricated modular wall andhorizontal partition members.

A further object of the invention is to provide a building structure asaforesaid wherein the spirally arranged compartments are arranged invertically superposed groups to position the wall members of eachsuperposed group into vertical alignment to function as columns whichcarry the loading of the compartment groups down to a base footing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a building structure asaforesaid in which additional compartments can be added one at a time asdesired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a building structure asaforesaid having a centrally located open interior well extendingthroughout its height to accommodate the installation of an elevatoraccessible to all compartments within the building.

Still another and further object of the invention is to provide abuilding structure as aforesaid wherein the horizontal partition membersdefining the compartment ceilings and floors are extended in consecutiveadjoining relation to provide a spiral ramp surrounding the interiorwell to support a similar spiral guide track for an elevator moveabletherein.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description and accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a completed building structure accordingto a preferred embodiment of the invention as viewed from above.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the building structure ofFIG. 1, as seen in its initial stage of construction, and illustratingin greater detail the arrangement of the modular wall and horizontalpartition members as they are assembled to form the various compartmentsof the building.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a typical modular wall member used in thebuilding of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of the wall member shown in FIG. 3, as seenlooking parallel to line IVIV therein.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a typical modular horizontal partition memberused in the building of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an edgewise elevation view of the horizontal partition membershown in FIG. 5, as seen looking parallel to line VI-VI therein.

As exemplified by FIGS. 1 and 2, the building structure 10 of theinvention features a plurality of modular wall members 11 and aplurality of modular horizontal partition members 12 which are connectedin an alternating repeating sequence to the wall members 11 to define anelevated building structure 10 having a plurality of compartments 13arranged in succession along an ascending helical spiral path.

Each compartment 13 is bounded in elevation by a pair of partitionmembers 12 and bounded laterally by a pair of wall members 11. In thisrespect, each partition member 12 associated with a compartment 13located on a spiral path flight intermediate between the uppermost andlowermost defines both the ceiling or roof of one compartment and thefloor of an adjacently overlying compartment, i.e. for a typicalintermediate flight compartment 13, the upper partition member 12 is theceiling for that compartment 13 and also the floor of the adjacentlyoverlying compartment 13, with the lower partition member 12 serving asboth the floor for the first-mentioned compartment 13 and the ceiling ofthe adjacently underlying compartment 13.

For purposes of example and illustration, the building is shown in FIG.1 as having its compartments 13 arranged along a left-handed spiralpath, and with some of the uppermost flight of compartments 13 leftuncovered.

It should be understood that the building 10 can a1- ternatively beconstructed with compartments 13 arranged along a right-handed spiralpath simply by interchanging the height dimensions of certain portionsof the wall members 11, as will be explained hereinafter. As to thoseuppermost compartments 13 shown uncovered, it should be noted that theycan be covered simply by placing additional partition members 12 uponand between the adjacent wall members 11 associated with such opencompartments 13.

The building 10 is constructed with a generally open, centrally locatedwell 14 which extends vertically from the base 15 throughout the heightof the building 10. This well 14 is generally cylindrical and issurrounded laterally by an ascending spiral ramp 16 defined by theinwardly directed portions 17 of adjoining partition members 12. Theseinward portions 17 are arranged to extend toward the central axis ofwell 14 from the interior vertical edges 18 of the wall members, andlaterally adjoin one another such that their arcuate edge portions 19are disposed in endwise adjoining relation.

The ascending spiral ramp 16 thus defined can be either a generatedsurface continuously smooth over its length or can be a stepwiseapproximation to such theoretical generated surface, as exemplified inFIG. 2.

To provide a ramp 16 which is a generated spiral ribbon surface, thefabrication of the partition members 12 is somewhat complicated.According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the upper surfacesof the partition members are generally flat, and arranged to be levelwith the horizontal to provide compartment 13 floors which are likewisehorizontal. The partition member portions 17 which constitute the ramp16 running around well 14 and leading to the interior sides of all thecompartments 13 need not be exactly horizontal since the ramp 16 ismerely an extension of the compartment 13 floors. However, the partitionmembers 12 are more expediently made with their upper surfacescontinuously flat. To provide a generated spiral ramp 16 in combinationwith horizontal compartment 13 floors, it is therefore necessary to makethe partition members 12 with upper surfaces which over portions 17conform to a generated spiral surface, and over their remaining portionsconform to a flat horizontal surface.

For purposes of simplicity and economy, the partition members 12 areconstructed so that their portions 17 are arranged to laterally adjoinone another in a stepwise fashion, thus allowing the entire uppersurface of said partition members 12 to be flat and horizontal.

However, as can be noted from FIGS. 1 and 2, and in more detail fromFIG. 6, the partition members 12 are provided each with a spiral ledgeportion 20 along their arcuate edge portions 19, and these ledgeportions 2 are arranged to adjoin one another in flush endwise relationso as to define a continuously smooth spiral ledge ascending around theboundary of well 14, and having a pitch the same as that of the spirallocation path for compartments 13.

It should be noted that the compartments 13 are preferably uniform inheight and that their uniform height is equal to the pitch of theirspiral location path.

In general, any desired number of compartments 13 can be provided perflight, but such compartments 13 are preferably similar at least as totheir shell geometry established by the wall and partition members 11and 12. With such an arrangement, the compartments 13 will be located atequal angular intervals along their spiral location path. As exemplifiedby FIGS. 1 and 2, the compartments 13 are so dimensioned that anintegral number of compartments 13, in this case 16, are containedwithin each complete flight or turn of the spiral location path.

In this way, compartments 13 located at similar angular stations in eachsuccessive flight will be positioned in vertically superposed relationrather than in an overlapping relation as would occur in the case wherethe number of compartments 13 per flight is not an integer.

The wall members 11 associated with each group of vertically superposedcompartments 13 will thus be positioned in edgewise alignment with oneanother, such that when connected together either directly or indirectlythrough partition members 12, will define load bearing columnar wallsextending vertically throughout the height of the building 10, with eachof such columnar walls defining the lateral boundaries of adjacentgroups of vertically superposed compartments 13.

The continuous spiral ledge defined by the portions 20 of the partitionmembers 12 is used as a spiral guide track to guide an elevator 21 formovement up and down within the well 14. Details of the elevator 21 aregiven in the prior copending application Ser. No. 442,645 of CarlHeinrich Hagel, filed Mar. 25, 1965 now Patent No. 3,419,161. A varietyof detail construction options are available with regard to suchelevator guide track. The portions 20 can be prefabricated fromreinforced concrete, as can be the entire partition member 12, as wellas the wall members 11, and a steel track section 22 can be installedfor extension along each portion 20 at the time the partition member 12is cast.

Such steel track sections 22, of course, have the same pitch as the ramp16 and compartment 13 location path, regardless of whether they areprefabricated with partition members 12 or installed by any conventionalmeans (not shown).

Although the shell structure of the building 10 illustrates anarrangement wherein the wall members 11 and partition members 12 definewedge-shaped compartments 13 that are oriented radially about the basicspiral path axis, and which compartments 13 are open at both radial endsand along the side which faces toward the interior of the L-shaped wallmembers 11, such basic shell structure can be supplemented withconventional panels and partitions (not shown) to completely enclose theindividual compartments 13 as desired. The building 10 illustratedherein is particularly adapted for use as a garage, and therefore, suchopen construction is more appropriate for economy. If it is desired toadapt one or more compartments 13 for use as dwelling rooms orapartments, additional wall panels and/or floor panels (not shown) canbe installed to close off the open shafts defined by the stacked groupsof wall members 11, and to close off the inner and outer radial ends ofsuch compartments 13.

FIG. 2 illustrates how the erection of building 10 is started, using agenerally level base 15.

Because a vertically extending spiral path cannot be tangent to a base15 plane perpendicular to its axis, the wall members 11 used for thefirst flight of compartments 13 are of progressively increasing heightto support the lower partition members 12 for such compartments 13 intheir intended adjoining, spirally ascending pattern. After the firstflight of compartments 13 has been erected, wall members 11 of uniformheight are used.

However, if it is desired to use uniform height wall members 11throughout the entire building 10, this can be done simply by using abase having a one turn spiral support surface of the same pitch as thecompartment 13 location path.

From FIGS. 3 and 4 taken together with FIGS. 1 and 2, it can be notedthat the wall members 11 have one pair of opposite edge portions 23a and23]; disposed for respective engagement with the partition members 12defining the floor and ceiling of the compartment 13 associated witheach wall member 11, and these edge portions 23 function to secure suchpartition members 12 in fixed relation to each other.

The first flight of compartments can be erected as shown in FIG. 2simply by aligning the wall members 11a radially with the intendedspiral axis at their respective angular stations, and placing partitionmembers 12:: between and upon adjacent wall members 11a. With theleft-handed spiral ascension shown in FIG. 2, each first flight floorpartition member 12a is supported on its right side by the upper edgeportion 23b of the wall member 11a to its right, and supported on itsleft side by the upper edge portion 24b of the wall member 11a to itsleft, said upper edge portions 2412 being actually in two parts due tothe L-shaped plan form of the wall members 11a as Well as 11. To betterillustrate the placing of the wall members 11a, some of the partitionmembers 12a have been removed in FIG. 2, and it should be understoodthat between each two adjacent wall members 11a of the first flight, apartition member 12a is placed and secured thereto by any suitableconventional fastening means (not shown). For each wall member 11, 11a,the edge portion 23b is elevated above edge portion 2412 by a distancecorresponding to the pitch of the compartment 13 location path dividedby the number of compartments 13 per flight, in the case of compartments13 occupying a uniform angular space. For example, with 16 compartmentsper flight and a path pitch of 8 feet, i.e. to provide a basiccompartment height of 8 feet, the edge portions 23b would be located 6inches above corresponding edge portions 2411.

In general, the wall members 11a are used to support the floor definingpartition members 12a associated with the first flight of compartments13, and to provide the start for erecting the other compartments 13along the intended spiral path. Consequently, once the partition members12a are erected in place, the regular, uniform dimensioned wall members11 are used, together with partition members 12 (which are actually thesame in dimensions as those designated by 12a), to erect subsequentflights of compartments 13.

Erection of each subsequent flight of compartments 13 is accomplished byplacing wall members 21 with their lower edge portions 24a resting uponthe left side of partition members 12 or 12a associated withcompartments 13 to the right, and with their lower edge portions 23aresting upon the right side of partition members 12 or 12a associatedwith compartments to the left. The partition members 12 which defineboth the ceiling of individual compartments 13 in one flight and thefloor of overlying compartments 13 in the next flight are installed uponthe upper edge portions 23b and 24b of Wall members 11 associated withthe one flight in the same manner as are the partition members 12a uponthe wall members 11a.

The invention provides a unique combination of modular wall members 11and horizontal partition members 12 which can be used generally toconstruct buildings of various sizes. These wall members 11 aregenerally L- shaped in plan form as shown by FIG. 3 and have each a slab31 which, when the wall member 11 is erected, is oriented radially withrespect to the axis of the spiral compartment location path. A secondslab 32, joined edgewise to the radial slab 31, is oriented in atangential direction with respect to the spiral path and serves toestablish a generally cylindrical building outline.

The angular positioning of adjacent compartments 13 horizontally isestablished by the angular spacing between the upper and lower pairs ofedge surfaces 23b and 24b, and 23a and 24a, respectively. For locationof the compartments 13 along a spiral path the pairs of horizontalpartition members 12 associated with adjacent compartments 13 must bedisplaced horizontally a predetermined distance apart and also displacedapart in elevation by a distance corresponding to their horizontalangular separation, these angular or azimuth and elevation separa tionsare directly related to the pitch of the spiral location path and thenumber of compartments 13 per flight Cir thereof. For example, with auniform compartment 13 height of 8 feet and with 16 compartments perflight, the corresponding upper and lower partition members of adjacentcompartments 13 are displaced 6 inches apart in elevation andconsequently, the partition member edge surfaces 23b and 23a are 6inches higher than the corresponding edge surfaces 24b and 24a, for thecase of the left-handed spiral location path used in the building 10. Ifit is desired to provide a building wherein the compartments 13 arearranged along a right-handed spiral path, this can be done simply bymaking the edge surfaces 2412 and 24a respectively 6 inches higher thanthe edge surfaces 23b and 23a.

The angular separations between the edge surfaces 23a and 24a, andbetween the edge surfaces 23b and 24a correspond to the angular portionof the spiral path occupied by the individual compartments 13.

From the foregoing description of the invention in terms of a particularillustrative embodiment, it will become apparent to the artisan that theinvention is susceptible of numerous obvious modifications andvariations.

What is claimed is:

1. A building structure comprising a plurality of modular, horizontalpartition members and a plurality of modular generally L-shaped w-allmembers connected in alternating, repeating sequence, along an upwardlyspiraling path thereby defining a multifloored, generally spirallydisposed building having a plurality of compartments therein disposed atdifferent elevations along said path, each of which compartments beingbounded by a pair of said wall members and by a pair of said horizontalpartition members which compartments are arranged in succession alongthe spiral path, each said generally L-shaped wall member including afirst portion defining a plane disposed in generally chordal relation tothe periphery of said building and a second integral portion generallydefining a plane normal to the plane of the first portion and extendinginwardly of the first portion toward the longitudinal axis of saidspiral.

2. The building structure according to claim 1 wherein said wall andhorizontal partition members are connected to one another to define abuilding structure having a generally open, centrally located andvertically extending interior Well.

3. The building structure according to claim 2 wherein said horizontalpartition members are disposed for extension in laterally adjoiningrelation toward the axis of said spiral path and have arcuate edgeportions facing said axis and disposed in consecutive endwise adjoiningrelation to define a generally cylindrical open interior well surroundedlaterally by an ascending spiral ramp constituted by said horizontalpartition members.

4. The building structure according to claim 3 wherein said wall membersand horizontal partition members are disposed to define similar boundedcompartments located at equal angular intervals along said ascendingspiral path with an integral number of compartments being containedwithin each complete flight of said spiral path to position compartmentslocated at similar angular stations in each successive spiral pathflight in vertical superposed relation to one another.

5. The building structure according to claim 4 wherein the wall membersassociated with each group of vertically superposed compartments areconnected in edgewise alignment to one another to define load bearingcolumnar walls extending vertically throughout the height of thebuilding and defining the lateral boundaries of adjacent groups ofvertically superposed compartments.

6. The building structure according to claim 5 wherein said compartmentsare uniform in height and are located along a spiral path having a pitchequal to such compartment height.

'7. The building structure according to claim 5 wherein one horizontalpartition member of the pair thereof associated with each compartmentdefines the floor of said compartment and the ceiling of the adjacentunderlying compartment, and the other horizontal partition member ofsaid pair defines the ceiling of said compartment and the floor of theadjacent overlying compartment.

8. The building structure according to claim 5 wherein each of said wallmembers have a pair of opposite edge portions disposed for respectiveengagement with the horizontal partition members defining the floor andceiling of the compartment associated with such wall member, to securesaid horizontal partition members in fixed relation to each other.

9. The building structure according to claim 5 including a spiral guidetrack disposed in said interior well to guide an elevator movabletherein, said guide track having the same pitch as said spiral ramp andbeing connected thereto for support thereby.

10. The building structure accord ng to claim 5 wherein said wallmembers and horizontal partition members are disposed to definewedge-shaped compartments oriented radially about said spiral path axis.

11. The building structure according to claim 1 wherein said modularwall members are generally L-shaped in plan form and include a firstslab oriented radially with respect to the axis of said spiral path anda second slab connected to the first and oriented in a tangentialdirection with respect to said path to establish a generally cylindricalbuilding outline.

12. The building structure according to claim 1 wherein said modularwall members each have a pair of upper surfaces displaced horizontally apredetermined angular distance apart from each other and displaced inelevation a distance apart from each other corresponding to theirangular separation to receive for connection thereto a horizontalpartition member associated with one compartment and a horizontalpartition member associated with an adjacent compartment to support saidpartition members at a combined horizontal angular and elevation spacingcorresponding to that of their respectively associated compartmentsalong said spiral path.

13. The building structure according to claim 12 wherein said modularwall members each have a pair of lower surfaces displaced horizontallyapart from each other and displaced in elevation apart from each otherby distances respectively equal to the angular and elevationdisplacement distances of said upper pair of surfaces to receive forconnection to each of said lower surfaces a horizontal partition memberassociated with a corresponding adjacent compartment, whereby both theupper and lower horizontal partition members associated with saidadjacent compartments are supported at horizontal angular spacings andelevation spacings corresponding to the pitch of said spiral path andthe angular portion thereof occupied by said compartments.

14. A building structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said secondportion of said L-shaped wall member is a radially disposed member.

15. A building structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said firstportion of said generally L-shaped wall member substantially defines aportion of a cylindrical surface concentric with the axis of saidspiral.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,698,973 1/1955 Zeckendorf etal. 52-236 X 3,105,999 10/1963 Piazolo 52l76 3,290,837 12/1966 Weston5230 3,307,307 3/ 1967 Wittenmyer et al. 52252 X 3,358,407 12/1967 Konig52236 X HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

